FEBRUARY: Tax Credits & Tax Help

Throughout California, millions of people are working hard to make life better for themselves and their families. WIC agencies can play a critical role in informing participants about their eligibility for various tax credits. The California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is still going strong and, as always, the federal EITC and Child Tax Credit (CTC) are programs that in 2016 lifted an estimated 6.5 million people out of poverty, including 3.3 million children. The severity of poverty was reduced for an additional 21.2 million families, including 7.7 million children.

Remember, these tax credits have NO effect on eligibility for public benefits like MediCal, CalWORKS, or food stamps. And families may be eligible for tax credits worth thousands of dollars – and free help filing their taxes – even if they did not earn enough in 2018 to owe income tax!

Please help deserving WIC households get help filing their taxes so that they can take advantage of these credits!

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteers provide FREE Income Tax Preparation Assistance. Although sites are not available in every county, you can search for VITA sites on the IRS website by ZIP code, city, or county.

File tax returns for free online and get information about tax filing at TaxACT Online.